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Local congressman weighs in on health care reform

Sunday, October 18, 2009

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Gabe Gutierrez
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WASHINGTON (WJRT) -- (10/18/09) -- The health care debate is heating up again this week on Capitol Hill and one local congressman is gaining national attention for his support of insurance companies and what he calls "free speech."

U.S. Representative Dave Camp of Midland is among the many Republicans celebrating a political victory this weekend. The Obama administration backed off what many conservatives were calling "a gag order."

Weeks ago, Democrats had urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to investigate a letter Humana sent to its customers slamming the president's health care plan and suggesting the legislation could hurt their benefits, saying they might confuse recipients.

The CMS called the letter "misleading" and ordered Humana to stop.

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Camp called it a "gag order" aimed at a company that has taken a position contrary to the Obama administration.

"I think having Medicare plans communicating with seniors is a constitutional right," said Camp. "Now, plans will be able to let seniors know how they will be affected. I'm not afraid of the truth on this."

Camp said Friday that the Obama administration was "backing away from its inappropriate and unconstitutional gag order on Medicare Advantage plans."

Meanwhile, the president is upping the rhetoric against insurance companies, calling the information in these mailings "bogus."

"They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads," Obama said. "They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions and they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people."

Michigan Democrat Dale Kildee agrees, saying the insurance companies are ignoring large parts of the health care reform bill that would save money.

"I presume no law broken in doing that," Kildee said. "One may question the propriety of doing something like that."

The health care debate that is far from over as Michigan lawmakers head back to Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that a finished health-care bill out of the House is likely to come to come this week.

"What we've seen from the very beginning is an attempt to really kind of push this through," Camp said. "We need to know what those costs are and we need to know whether that's worth the policy."